A homeless man accused of pushing another man in front of an oncoming subway train in New York City has said he was attacked first.

Naeem Davis, 30, was arraigned Wednesday night on a second-degree murder charge and ordered held without bail in the death of 58-year-old Ki Suk Han.

As the handcuffed defendant walked past reporters he blamed the victim for what happened.

"He attacked me first. He grabbed me," Davis said.

Asked by a television news reporter if he meant to kill Mr Han, Davis replied: "No."

Prosecutor James Lin told the judge that Davis saw the train strike Mr Han before leaving the Times Square station on Monday.

"The defendant never once offered any aid to the victim as the train approached the platform and in fact, this defendant watched the train hit the victim," Mr Lin said.

But Davis' legal aid lawyer, Stephen Pokart, said his client reportedly "was involved in an incident with a man who was drunk and angry".

A witness, Leigh Weingus, told The New York Times that Mr Han appeared to be aggressive toward Davis.

"The victim kept saying 'Hey! Hey!' at the suspect, getting closer and closer to him," she said. "At first Davis appeared calm, saying 'I don't know you, you don't know me, get out of my face. '"

Image:The incident occurred at Times Square station

Mr Han's wife had said she had argued with her husband that morning and that he had been drinking.

Davis has several prior arrests in New York and Pennsylvania on mostly minor charges including drug possession. He is due back in court on December 11.

Meanwhile, relatives and friends on Thursday bid a final farewell to Mr Han at a funeral chapel in Flushing, Queens.

Mr Han's death got widespread attention not only for its horrific nature, but because he was photographed a split-second before the train trapped him and seemingly no one attempted to come to his aid.

Mr Han's only child, 20-year-old Ashley, said at a news conference Wednesday that her father was always willing to help someone. But when asked about why no one helped him up, she said: "What's done is done."

"The thought of someone helping him up in a matter of seconds would have been great," she said.

A freelance photographer for the New York Post was waiting for a train when he said he saw a man approach Mr Han at the station, get into an altercation with him and push him into the train's path.

The Post photo in Tuesday's edition showed Mr Han with his head turned toward the train, his arms reaching up but unable to climb off the tracks in time.

The photographer, R. Umar Abbasi, said he was trying to alert the motorman to what was going on by flashing his camera, adding that he was shocked that people nearer to the victim did not try to help.

Ashley Han and her mother, Serim Han, met reporters Wednesday inside their Presbyterian church in Queens.

The family came to the US from Korea about 25 years ago. They said Mr Han was unemployed and had been looking for work.